Food and Drink
Discover the latest in food and drink news, try our delicious and easy recipes using fresh seasonal produce and read our pub and restaurant reviews.
Here at Country Life we love to cook and we love to eat. Seasonality is important, whether you’re growing your own or visiting the farmers’ market for your ingredients – but we love to cook seasonally. Whether it’s our brilliant collection of elderflower recipes in the summertime, our ultimate sloe gin recipe in autumn or gorgeous roast goose recipes in the winter, we have collected the best seasonal recipes by ingredient on dedicated pages
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Burns Night: What it is, where to go, what to do if you want to play host
Burns Night has been celebrated for well over 200 years – here's everything you need to know about celebrating Scotland's national poet.
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Tom Kerridge: 'Fish and chips on Brighton beach can be every bit as magical as a Michelin three-star restaurant'
Tom Kerridge, one of Britain's top chefs, is the guest on this week's Country Life podcast.
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A Jerusalem-artichoke chowder that's a perfect warming winter soup
Our kitchen garden cook Melanie Johnson shares her recipe for Jerusalem-artichoke chowder with mussels and chive oil.
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Dry January 'is an abomination' dreamt up by 'misery merchants who are never happier than when they’re uncomfortable'
Our columnist Agromenes turns away from his usual focus to take a look at the Dry January movement. It's fair to say, er, that he's against it.
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How to make chestnut-and-mushroom ravioli with beurre noisette and sage
If you've a few chestnuts left over from Christmas, our kitchen garden cook Melanie Johnson is here to help. This is her recipe for chestnut-and-mushroom ravioli with beurre noisette and sage.
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From goose and gratin to a very royal recipe, Country Life's top 10 recipes, food and drink stories of 2023
Our look back at 2023 makes us very, very hungry indeed.
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Master of Wine Nicola Arcedeckne-Butler on how to pick the perfect wines over Christmas
Village drinks? Teenage gatherings? Carol singers? Christmas and Boxing Day lunch? Wine savant Nicola Arcedeckne-Butler MW has a wine for every festive occasion.
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The new rules of dining etiquette, from elbows and mobile phones to sex at the dinner table
Formal dining is no longer the minefield it once was. Annunciata Elwes identifies points of etiquette that have been dispatched, retained, revised and added.
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Nine things you ought to know if you're having goose for Christmas
If you're looking for a change from turkey for Christmas dinner, goose is the obvious choice – but there are a few things to think about, as Kate Green explains.
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Rowanberry wine: A distinctive and delicious tipple
Aficionados laud the wine’s unique taste, which develops over the 12–18 months it takes to mature.
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Tableside cooking: Dinner with a side of drama
Tableside cooking is nothing new, but modern-day diners have forgotten how fun it can be, says Tom Parker Bowles, who makes his case for its renaissance.
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Kalettes, the deliciously earthy alternative to sprouts that will even liven up a curry
Melanie Johnson shares a beautiful winter dish, combining the earthy flavours of kalettes with coconut curry prawns.
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How to make Rick Stein’s turbot with hollandaise — and why you should never make it with a perfectly fresh fish
A versatile Old Master, turbot is a flat fish so eternally appealing that it commands its own cooking vessel, says Tom Parker Bowles, who also shares his favourite turbot recipe: Rick Stein's turbot-powered last supper dish.
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When did Stir-up Sunday first begin?
On the last weekend before Advent, families gather to make Christmas pudding on the day we know as Stir-up Sunday. But when did we start giving it that name? With Stir-up Sunday 2023 falling on November 26th, Neil Buttery takes a look.
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How to make three-cheese sourdough bread and a perfect winter-warmer soup to go with it
We'll leave it up to you to decide whether the soup or the sourdough is the star of the show in this pair of recipes...
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The iconic American bars in London perfect for lifting a Thanksgiving cocktail
Glamorous American bars were once a familiar sight in London, catering to US and British citizens alike, but only two of the historic ones remain. On the eve of Thanksgiving, Robert Crossan goes in search of both.
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Curious Questions: How do you make the perfect slice of toast?
Jonathan Self is toast-mad. His entire family is toast-mad. He's spent his life looking for the ultimate way of making the nation's favourite snack. Here's what he suggests you do.
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The great culinary mystery of why don't we eat more rabbit (especially when you take a look at this recipe)
It’s madness that we no longer enjoy rabbit as we once did, laments Tom Parker Bowles. Whether seasoned with thyme and cider baked into a juicy pie or grilled over coals until perfectly crispy, it makes for some magnificent dishes.
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How to make a sumptuous scallops dish that uses turnip as its secret weapon
Our kitchen garden cook Melanie Johnson shares her recipe for seared scallops with creamy turnip purée and salsa verde.